MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez continued to impress with a new fast time at the Sepang International Circuit in testing on Thursday morning.

The Repsol Honda rider has been on the pace since testing resumed on Tuesday and he set a ‘new record test time’ at the Malaysian venue early today, taking advantage of relatively cool temperatures to register a rapid 1:59.533 lap as the top riders battled for supremacy.

After Haas, a NASCAR team co-owner, responded to the FIA’s invitation to fill the vacant team slot, Ecclestone said publicly he doubts the Californian is prepared to spend what it takes to compete in F1.

Aleix Espargaro continued to make headlines in Malaysia on Wednesday. Although fuel levels remain unknown, the NGM Mobile Forward Racing rider was conspicuous as his Open specification FTR-Yamaha ended the day fifth.

Jorge Lorenzo, the 2010 and 2012 MotoGP World Champion, slipped to sixth on the Sepang test Day Two timesheet, but he did improve by half a second on his Tuesday best and got through some important work on electronics settings.

Lorenzo’s best time of 2:00.573 — on the 27th of his 49 laps — on Wednesday left him 0.647s behind title rival and pace man Marc Marquez, but also behind teammate Valentino Rossi and the likes of FTR Yamaha-equipped compatriot Aleix Espargaro.